No C band on Eutelsat 5 West B, C band currently on 5 west will be moved to other Eutelsat satellites probably 8 west, The new footprint maps will enable multi-stream from France & Italy to still be received in Southern England & Wales,

Well it's the very high FEC on the multistreams that makes it more tricky! 80cm here is just enough to avoid loss in all but heavy rain, I think a couple of dBW less will mean the rain margin is much poorer. But I guess we'll see.

If you're just outside the 48dBW, you might be alright with a 1.3/1.4m still with any luck.

I suppose that it would not be such a struggle to receive the new 5W in southeastern Europe with solid dish bigger that 2m, but who knows exactly, all in all signal shall be lower than now. Moreover these new beams ,as well as on 9E spot beams which are receivable in the region I mentioned except the Italy spot beam, are with quite restricted coverage. Pity !

solly

Specialist Contributor

TRANSITION SYSTEM FOR INSTALLATION OF SPACE EQUIPMENT EUTELSAT 5 WEST B AND MEV-1 SUCCESSFULLY PASSED TESTS

The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Camp continues to prepare for the launch of the EUTELSAT 5 West B and MEV-1 spacecraft on the Proton-M launch vehicle, including with the Briz-M upper stage. Designed and manufactured at the Center. MV Khrunichev transition adapter system, which will ensure docking of the upper stage with the spacecraft, was returned to the company from Northrop Grumman (Dallas, Va., USA), where the fitting tests were performed with EUTELSAT 5 West B and MEV-1 spacecraft .

The launch of the first MEV is slated for 2019 as a co-passenger on a Proton-M Briz-M (Ph.4) rocket with in-orbit testing and demonstration to be performed with the Intelsat-901 satellite in inclined orbit. This testing is scheduled for completion by late 2019. MEV-1 will then relocate the satellite scheduled for the mission extension service, which is planned for a five-year period after which Intelsat 901 will be place back into inclined orbit.

Intelsat will also have the option to service multiple satellites using the same MEV.

Current info in the link is out of date so I have updated to what is now known about the delayed launch of Eutelsat 5 West B & MEV-1,

Some info I found about the launch gave August 1st 2019 more recent info now gives October:-Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now 3rd QuarterProton • Eutelsat 5 West B & MEV 1 Launch time: TBD Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan An International Launch Services Proton rocket and Breeze M upper stage will launch the Eutelsat 5 West B communications satellite and the first Mission Extension Vehicle for Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. Both spacecraft are built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, formerly known as Orbital ATK. Eutelsat 5 West B will join Eutelsat’s communications fleet in geostationary orbit, replacing the Eutelsat 5 West A spacecraft providing digital and television services primarily in the French, Italian and Algerian markets. The MEV 1 spacecraft is the first in a series of satellite servicing vehicles for SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. MEV 1 will dock with the Intelsat 901 communications satellite and provide propulsion and attitude control functions to extend the spacecraft’s mission. Delayed from May. [April 1]